A Weak Beginning to July: Quick Summer Recipe

Admittedly, this is a rather weak post, but it is a simple recipe for warm summer evenings, and I've been up since early to help out at the market for the dairy farm. I was able to barter for some produce, and made this for dinner tonight.

Like the ramp post, this recipe involves seasonal edibles--and pasta.

The seasonal edibles this time around are, in my case specifically, heirloom tomatoes. If you have no heirloom tomatoes available to you, you can use those which grow in your garden, and if you have no tomato garden, you should pick only the ripest and juiciest tomatoes, those that bruise easily and seem like they'll turn to salsa on the way home. If you don't like tomatoes, or can't eat them, I apologize, as this post obviously will do you no good.

Heirloom Tomato Pasta

1 large heirloom tomato (3 or 4 small juicy tomatoes), diced large

3-5 leaves of fresh basil, torn by hand into 1/2 postage-stamp size

1 scape*, or 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

kosher salt, pinch(es) (to taste)

1-3 tablespoon(s) olive oil

cooked pasta

Method:

Place the diced tomatoes, torn basil, garlic, salt, and olive oil into a bowl and leave it out on the counter, so it will juice itself, for at least an hour beforehand. Once the pasta is done, mix in the tomato "sauce". Enjoy the hell out of the simple beauty.

If you like cheese, add a diced a ball of buffalo mozzarella in the beginning with the tomatoes, et al.

*scape: sometimes called "green garlic", the scape is the end of the garlic plant, like the tip, that has a spearhead looking tip, which is where the blooming flower would be if it were to become overripe in the ground. The part used by us (me) resembles a pen, green and stiff, and slices look like, well, like a slice of pen. The flavor is definitely in the realm of garlic, but is spicy and green-tasting, like tasting color. Not in the realm of ramps. Scapes are sometimes found pickled in haute restaurants as garnish.